Selective soaper-rinser apparatus



P 23, 1969 o. a. BOWLES 3,468,325

SELECTIVE SOAPER-RINSER APPARATUS Filed April 4, 1967 III/Ill INVENTOR David E. Bowles ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,468,325 SELECTIVE SOAPER-RINSER APPARATUS David E. Bowles, 12712 Meadowood Drive, Silver Spring, Md. 20904 Filed Apr. 4, 1967, Ser. No. 628,496 Int. Cl. Fc 1/14 US. Cl. 137-815 17 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The soaper-rinser relates to garden hose attachments for controlling alternate flow of clear or soapy water and employs fluidic flip-flops and oscillators. The flip-flop permits ease of selection of soapy or rinse water while maintaining good stream characteristics. The use of the oscillator causes the stream to be swept over the surface to be washed.

The same water sweeping arrangement can be used in a water pick.

PRIOR ART There are available today many attachments for garden hoses for controlling the alternate flow of clear Water and soapy water through the device so that one may apply soap to, for instance, an automobile, and then rinse the soap off with clear water. Identical attachments or the same attachment are often used for applying insecticides, fertilizers, etc. to plants or lawns or trees, although the need for alternate clear or treated water in such devices is not as great as in the car washing example. In any event, it has been noted that these devices, regardless of the particular use to which they are put do not provide good streaming of the fluid. Specifically, the stream flow is not coherent and does not carry great distances. The fluid tends to break up into individual droplets, or at best, widely scattered streams.

The present invention utilizes a fiuidic flip-flop of the type generally described in British Patent No. 975,020 with clear water flowing through one leg of the flip-flop. The other leg of the flip-flop has a soap container attachment connected thereto so that the water flowing through this leg entrains liquid soap or soapy water and issues soapy water out of the other leg of the amplifier. As a result of this construction, two completely unobstructed legs or water flow channels are provided which, by appropriate shaping of the end of the two channels or by bringing the two channels together and appropriately shaping the end of the single channel output provides a good stream characteristic. Alternatively, a standard hose nozzle may be connected to the end of the single channel to provide a range of difierent stream characteristics. Thus, an important feature of the invention is that the stream characteristic is not affected by Whether soapy water or clear water is flowing.

In addition to the above, the output channels of the flipfiop may connect directly to a fluid oscillator having a wide arc of sweep at the output channels of the device so that, by simply holding the device in one place, the water may be caused to sweep over a large area of the surface to be cleaned, thereby only requiring the holder to move the unit in one direction, say vertically, while the oscillator causes sweep in the horizontal direction thereby increasing the coverage of the device and reducing the work that must be performed by the operator.

This latter feature may also be employed in a dental water pick. It has been found that the cleaning properties of the stream are increased by more or less pulsing the region of which material is to be abstracted by causing a beam to sweep so that the beam impacts against a given region on a pulse basis and increases the cleaning proper- Patented Sept. 23, 1969 ties of the pick. This latter factor is also of value in the car wash soaper rinser.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a device for selectively delivering clear or treated water, where the treated water may be treated with soap or insecticide or other desired liquid material.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a device for controllably selecting clear or treated water in which a good stream may be provided regardless of whether the water is clear or treated.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a device for supplying clear or treated water which either of the fluids or liquids is swept over a surface to be treated at a controllable rate.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a water pick having a swept stream of water.

The above and still further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description of one specific embodiment thereof, especially when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic illustration of the basic concept of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a schematic illustration of a further embodiment of the present invention; and

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view of a hose attachment embodying the basic concept of the present invention.

Referring specifically to FIGURE 1 of the accompanying drawings, there is provided a standard fluidic flip-flop 1 having a power nozzle 2 provided with a standard hose connection 3 for connection to a garden hose. The flip-flop 1 is provided with control passages 4 and 6 and output passages 7 and 8. The flip-flop is of the entraining type; that is, the power stream or the stream issuing from the nozzle 2 is directed to the output channels 7 or 8 on the same side of the device as that control channel which has been blocked. Specifically, if the control channel 6 is open, then entrainment air is supplied to the adjacent area of the interaction region 9 so that a strong boundary layer attachment cannot be developed on that side. Similarly, if the control nozzle to channel 4 is open, entrainment air is supplied and not too strong a boundary layer attachment is developed on that side of the device. In order to cause the water to normally be directed to the output channel 8, an adjustable valve 11 is connected to the control nozzle 6 to limit but not stop flow of air to the channel 6. Thus, when the control channel 4 is unblocked less entrainment air is provided by the control channel 6 than the control channel 4 and the liquid flows to the channel 8. When it is wished to cause the water to switch to the output channel 7, the end of the control nozzle 4 is covered by the finger of the operator, probably his thumb, and all entrainment air is prevented from entering the interaction region 9 through the control channel 4. Since some air is being supplied through the control channel 6, the boundary layer pressure adjacent the control channel 4 is the lesser of the two and the water flows to the channel 7. The amount of entrainment through the control channel 6, however, is not suificient for the liquid stream to be maintained in the channel 7 when the operator removes his finger from the channel 4. Thus, when the operator wishes the water to switch back to the channel 8, he simply removes his finger from the end of the channel 4 and switching is eifected.

The output channel 8 may be connected to a tubular extension 12 and the output channel 7 is connected to a tubular extension 13. Before proceeding, it should be noted that the ends of the two channels 7 and 8 could be at the end of the device, particularly if the channels were turned so as to be parallel to one another.

Connected to the tubular extension 13 is a chamber 14 which is actually connected to a side arm 16 of the tubular member 13. The side arm 16 enters the tubular member 13 at an angle directed away from the flip-flop 1 so that the channel 16 sees the wake pressure of the water flowing through the channel 13. A tubular extension 17 of the channel 16 extends into the liquid soap holder to the bottom thereof.

In operation, when the Water is turned on withthe device, of course, connected to a hose, the water normally flows out of the channel 12 to deliver clear Water. The channel 12, as well as the channel 13, are either shaped to provide a normal stream flow as out of a nozzle, or either one or the other or both may be adapted to take a conventional adjustable hose nozzle on the end of the channels. I

When it is wished to entrain soap in the water delivered to, for instance, an automobile to be washed, the operator covers the end of the channel 4 with his finger and the stream is caused to deflect from the channel 8 to the channel 7 and thus pass through the tubular member 13. The rapid flow of liquid or water through the channel 13 creates a greatly reduced wake pressure which is well below ambient or surrounding pressure. Ambient pressure is maintained in the soap chamber 14 by means of a vent 18 into the chamber. Since the pressure at the end ofthe channel 16 is considerably less than ambient pressure to which the upper end of the soap container 14 is open, a pressure exists across the fluid in the container 14 causing the fluid to be moved into the stream flowing through the tubular member 13. Thus, soapy water is delivered at the output or egress orifice of the tubular member 13.

It can be seen that, in this particular arrangement, there is no obstruction in any of the passages which can affect the flow of liquid in the system. The passages can be shaped to provide good stream flow and the overall apparatus is actually quite simple.

In a commercial form, the fluid flip-flop may be formed in the cap of a jar constituting the soap container 14. This would require the cap to be no more than threefourths inch thick to provide a minimum one-half inch internal diameter for the passages to match the device to the large garden hose that is normally in use.

Referring now specifically to FIGURE 2 of the accompanying drawings, there is provided a flip-flop 21 having output channels 22 and 23. Included in the flow channel 23 is a passage 24 extending through a cap 26 of a jar 27 for holding liquid soap or other liquid to be introduced into the flow line. In this particular unit, the channels 22 and 23 come together at a Y junction 28 so that only a single output flow channel 29 is provided. The outer surface of the channel 29 may be threaded to receive a nozzle or a further apparatus of the present invention to be discussed subsequently. In this particular embodiment, since a single output channel is provided, a single garden hose nozzle may be employed and only a single stream must be manipulated in accordance with the present invention.

The apparatus generally designated by reference numeral 31 comprises an oscillator '32 and a pair of output flow channels 33 and 34. The purpose of the arrangement is to provide a sweep of the fluid across a workpiece. The fluid flowing through common output tube 29 divides at a yoke 36 so that a part of the fluid flows to a passage 37 connected to an input nozzle 38 of the oscillator 32 and the other portion flows to a passage 39 which divides in two passages 41 and the passage previously referred to, passage 34. The passage 41 is connected through a valve 42 to a control nozzle 43 of the oscillator for purposes to be described subsequently. The oscillator 32 is provided with an output passage 44 connected to the output flow channel 33 and a second output passage 46 connected via a feedback loop 47 to a second control passage 48 of the oscillator 32. The'feedback loop 47 has a vent 50 to effect pressure equalization when the stream is diverted to channel 44.

In operation, a portion .of the fluid delivered to the passage 29, the common leg of the Y junction 28, is delivered directly to the output channel 34. The portion of the fluid delivered to the leg 37 is directed to the oscillator and its flow to the channel 33 is modulated thereby. Specifically, the fluid normally is directed to the channel 46 and fiows through the feedback passage47 and control nozzle 48 to divert the valve or the fluid to the output channel 44. The bias fluid supplied to the channel 43 through the valve 42, after the termination of flow through the feedback passage redirects the fluid to the output channel 46 so that the feedback action is again initiated. Thus, the stream shuttles between the passages 44 and 46 at a frequency determined primarily by the bias supplied to the control channel 43 and the length of the feedback passage. Thus, if the fluid supplied by the control channel 43 is of a relatively high pressure, Le. a high flow rate, the frequency of oscillation is quite rapid, since even a small reduction in the amount of fluid flowing through the feedback path 47 permits the fluid issuing from the channel 43 to redirect the fluid to the passage 46. On the other hand, if the fluid issuing from the control nozzle 43 is at a quite low pressure then almost all of the flow through the channel 47 must be terminated before the fluid issuing from the channel 43 is of sufficient pressure to cause the stream to be redirected. The pulse rate or the sweep rate of the system is determined by the setting of the valve 42. It will be noted that the output passages of the passages 33 and 34 are directed at an angle relative to one another. If fluid is flowing only through the channel 34 then the output fluid is directed along the axis of this channel. However, as an increasing portion of fluid is directed to the channel 33, the stream issuing from the channel 34 is directed downwardly, as viewed in FIGURE 2, by an amount which is directly proportional to the flow through the passage 33. The two flows more or less conform to the laws of conservation of momentum due to the fact that'two liquids interacting in air are provided. Thus, the fluid issuing from this device is caused to sweep over an angle having, as its limits, the angle between the axes of the output portions of the passages 33 and 34. It is obvious that, by increasing this angle, the angle between these two axes, the angle of sweep of the fluid is increased.

The oscillator portion of FIGURE 2 is, when provided with a direct connection to a faucet, a water pick having an oscillatable stream.

One further fact should be noted about the operation of the basic portion of the unit; that is, the flip-flop unit. The flow of liquid through the leg 22 into the Y junction 28 produces a reduction in pressure in the passage 23. Thus, air is supplied; that is, flows through this leg towards the yoke 28 being supplied through the adjacent control nozzle, control nozzle 4 of FIGURE 1. It should be noted, however, that no soap will be withdrawn from the chamber 27 since the wake pressure due to this air flow is considerably less than the wake pressure due to water flow at a much higher velocity through this passage and thus no difliculty is encountered under these circumstances.

' A practical embodiment of the basic arrangement illustrated in FIGURE 1 is illustrated in FIGURE 3 of the accompanying drawing. The device has a female connection 51 for a hose secured to the end of a housing generally designated by the reference numeral 52. The housing is provided with a handle 53 and a downwardly extending circular and internally threaded flange 54 onto which the receptacle for receiving soapy liquid or insecticide, etc. may be screwed. This region or wall 56 in the apparatus has a passage 57 entending diagonally therethrough so as to look at the wake pressure in a lower output channel 58 of the apparatus. The device is provided with an upper output channel 59 which is separated by a divider 61. An interaction region 62 is located to the left of the divider 61 and terminates in a power nozzle 63 which is in communication with the female receptacle 51. The flip-flop is provided with a control passage 64 connected via a passage 66 to the ambient atmosphere. The passage 66 passes through the front end or right end as viewed in FIGURE 3 of the handle 53 so that the operator may readily cover the end of the passage 66 with his thumb while holding the apparatus. A second control passage 67 is connected through the left side of the handle 53 to ambient. The end of the passage 67 is threaded as at 68 to receive a valve 69 for controlling ingress of air into the passage or control passage 67 to thus control the bias on the device.

By simply extending the body 52 to the right as illustrated in FIGURE 3, the Y or yoke 28 of FIGURE 2 may be incorporated in the structure and be provided with an external or male thread for receiving the oscillator apparatus of FIGURE 2 or a standard hose nozzle.

What I claim is:

1. A fluid device comprising a fluidic amplifier having a power nozzle, an interaction region, a pair of output channels and at least one control channel, means adapted to supply a first fluid to said power nozzle, a passage extending into communication with one of said output channels at such an angle as to be evacuated by the wake pressure of fluid flowing in said one output channel, means for extending said passage into communication with a second fluid and means for controlling flow through said control channel to control the distribution of said power stream between said output channels.

2. The combination according to claim 1 wherein said interaction region is of such a width relative to said power nozzle that fluid flow through said interaction region produces an ingress of fluid into said interaction region through said control channel and wherein said means for controlling flow comprises means for reducing flow through said control channel.

3. The combination according to claim 1 wherein said fluid amplifier is a bi-stable device, wherein said interaction region is of such a configuration that flow is normally directed to the other of said output channels and is of such a magnitude that flow therethrough reduces the pressure therein to below atmospheric pressure and wherein said means for controlling flow comprises means for blocking said control channel to divert said stream through said one of said output channels.

4. The combination according to claim 3 further comprising means for adjusting the pressure of the power stream at which blockage of said control channel diverts said power stream to said one of said output channels.

5. The combination according to claim 1 further comprising a fluidic oscillator having a power nozzle and at least one output passage, and means for supplying said power nozzle of said oscillator with fluid from at least said one output channel of said fluidic amplifier.

6. The combination according to claim 5 wherein said power nozzle of said fluid oscillator receives fluid from both said output channels of said fluidic amplifier.

7. The combination according to claim 6 further comprising a further passage for continuously receiving fluid from both said output channels of said fluidic amplifier, said further passage and said output passage of said oscillator issuing streams of fluid intersecting at an agle in a range between ninety degrees and greater than zero degrees.

8. A liquid pick for sweeping a liquid stream across a workpiece, said pick comprising a fluid passage for issuing a stream of liquid under pressure, a fluidic amplifier having an output channel for issuing a stream of liquid into intersection with the stream of liquid issued by said fluid passage, said passage and said channel lying at an angle relative to one another in a range between greater than zero degrees and ninety degrees, and means for causing said fluidic amplifier to vary the quantity of fluid issued by said channel, said intersecting streams of liquid forming a resultant stream of liquid directed generally toward said workpiece with a momentum determined by the relative momenta of said intersecting streams and being substantially co-planar with said intersecting streams, said resultant stream being unconstrained transversely of its flow direction in the space between the point of intersection of said intersecting streams and said workpiece.

9. The combination according to claim 8 wherein said fluidic amplifier is a fluidic oscillator.

10. The combination according to claim 9 wherein said fluidic oscillator includes means for controlling the periodicity of said oscillator.

11. A liquid pick arranged to cyclically sweep a stream of liquid across a workpiece, said pick comprising first fluid passage means for issuing a first liquid stream under pressure, second fluid passage means for issuing a second liquid stream under pressure and in intersecting relation with said first liquid stream at a specified intersection point, the angle between said first and second liquid streams lying in a range between greater than zero degrees and ninety degrees, and means for cyclically varying the pressure of said second liquid stream, said first and second liquid streams forming a resultant liquid stream emanating from said intersection point in the general direction of said workpiece and with a momentum determined by the relative momenta of said first and second liquid streams, said resultant liquid stream being unconstrained transversely of its flow direction in the space between said intersection point and said workpiece.

12. The liquid pick according to claim 11 further comprising means for selectively adjusting the periodicity of the cyclic variations of the pressure of said second liquid stream.

13. A fluidic device comprising:

a fluidic amplifier having an interaction region, a power nozzle responsive to application of a first pressurized fluid thereto for issuing a power stream of said first pressurized fluid into said interaction region, a pair of output channels disposed in receiving relation to said power stream and control means for controlling the distribution of said power stream between said output channels;

a supply of a second fluid;

a fluid passage extending from said supply of second fluid and into communication with one of said output channels at such an angle that the wake pressure of power stream fluid flowing in said one output channel aspirates said fluid passage to draw said second fluid into said one output channel.

14. The fluidic device according to claim 13 further comprising:

a fluidic oscillator having a power nozzle responsive to application of pressurized fluid thereto for issuing a power stream, at least one output passage disposed in receiving relation to said oscillator power stream, and means for cyclically deflecting said oscillator power stream relative to said output passage;

means for combining fluid flow from said first and second output channels in a common fluid passage; and

means for applying fluid flow in said common fluid passage to the power nozzle of said fluidic oscillator.

15. The fluidic element according to claim 14 further comprising a further fluid passage having its upstream end connected to receive a portion of the fluid flow in said common fluid passage and having its downstream end adapted to issue a first fluid stream, wherein said output passage of said fluidic oscillator is adapted to issue fluid received thereby in a second fluid stream in intersecting relation to said first fluid stream, said first and second fluid streams intersecting at an angle greater than zero degrees but no greater than ninety degrees to produce a resultant stream having a momentum determined 7 byltherelative momenta of said first and second fluid Streams. I

16. The fluidic deviceaccording to claim 13 further Comprising a common fluid passage for receivingfluid flow from both said output channels.

17-. A liquid pick arranged to cyclically sweep a stream of fluid, said pick comprising first fluid passage means for issuing a first liquid stream under pressure, second fluid passage means for issuing a second liquid stream under pressure in intersecting relation with said first liquid stream, said -first and second liquid streams intersecting at a specified intersection located in an unconstrained ambient environment, saidffirst and second liquid streams intersecting at an angle in the range bet-ween greater thanz ero. degrees and ninety'degrees and forming a resultant liquid stream having a momentum determined by the'relative momenta of said first and second liquid streams, and means for cyclically varying the presv8 sure of said second liquid stream, whereby the direction of said resultant liquid stream ,varieswith the cyclically varying pressure of said second liquid stream.

- References Cited A UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,331,380 7/1967 Schonfeld'et al. 137- 815 3,358,477 12/1967 Heskestad 13781.5 X 1,458,975 6/1923 Clauson 137'-604 2,953,160 9/1960 Braziel- 137'59-9.l 3,091,393 5/1963 Sparrow 137-5991 3,228,410 1/1966 Warren "et al. .5. 137-815 3,312,234 4/1967 Morey 137 -815 4 3,373,905 3/1968 M. CARY NELSON, Primary Examiner W. R.'CLINE,Assistant Examiner I 

